I’m Trans and Playing Sports Changed Me for the Better

By Sasha Buchert, Lambda Legal Counsel, Nonbinary & Trans Rights Project Director

For as long as I can remember, people have been throwing wiffle balls, basketballs, footballs, dodgeballs, volleyballs, frisbees, hockey pucks, and boomerangs at me.

As an adult, I’m now part of an adult softball league, where I get softballs hurled at me all the time. Lots and lots of softballs. To be honest, I have loved every second of it. I love to play.

Yes, it’s the feeling of my body in motion — the bat swings, the desperate sprinting, the catches in the field — but there’s more to it than the physical aspects. I love being part of a team for many, many reasons. 

One reason I love sports is that it is a great way to make friends. Some of my closest friendships have come through sports. Sharing a series of intense experiences with a group of people that you’ve come to rely upon and trust has led to the forging of lasting connections that often transcend the playing field. Many of my teammates have become permanent members of my friendship network. I turn to them for advice, consolation, and countless other reasons beyond athletics. 

Sports has also taught me about how to be a team player. Sometimes, especially whenever ego rears its ugly head, being on a team can be miserable. But there are very few experiences that rival being part of a team that is “clicking” — where everyone is lifting one another up and, regardless of the score, everyone is having a good experience. That magical “click” is something I actively try to nurture in both my professional and personal relationships.  

The importance of persistence is another thing I have learned from sports. No matter how much training you’ve done, or how much natural athleticism you enjoy, you are going to have periods when you are not performing well. Athletics teaches you to persevere through those difficult periods. We all experience slumps, injuries, negative self-talk, and other hurdles. Athletics teaches you that there are no short cuts, but that you will succeed if you are willing to put in the hours. Again, this kind of persistence has constantly paid off for me, both on and off of the playing field.

One other, underrated benefit of playing sports, especially outdoor sports, is the connection with nature that sports provides. It is deeply mesmerizing to stand in a field and watch trees swaying in the wind, hawks soar above me (along with the softballs), and hear dragonflies buzz around my head. Especially at dusk, when the conversations slow, geese fly by in their teams, crickets cheer, and bats (both kinds) dart across the sky. 

In short, playing sports has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life, and I believe everyone — including transgender people — deserve access to its joys and benefits.

How Politicians are Failing the Young Trans People of America

I literally cannot imagine my life without sports, and it is sickening to see hypocritical politicians viciously and vacuously disparage young transgender people who simply want to throw a softball, shoot a hoop, or run track with their friends. 

These self-proclaimed “experts” demonize transgender kids, warning against the evils of their inclusion. But when pressed, they are unable to name a single transgender athlete in their state. 

The rank hypocrisy underpinning these bills is disgusting. Mean-spirited politicians make a big show of protecting women by banning a handful of trans girls from playing sports, while they simultaneously do everything in their power to restrict the rights of women in so many other facets of their lives. From restrictions on the reproductive rights of women, equal pay for women, voting rights for women, and their obstinate refusal to support public policies that would empower women (such as subsidized child care), their cruelty and hypocrisy know no bounds.

Lambda Legal is Fighting Back, and the Facts Support Us

Lambda Legal, on the other hand, stands loud and proud behind its mission. For more than 50 years, we have been fighting to defend the LGBTQ+ community and everyone living with HIV, and that includes trans athletes. That is why we are representing a young trans girl who simply wants to play sports with her friends. 

Becky Pepper-Jackson, a teenager from West Virginia, wants to participate in her school’s track team activities for many of the same reasons I love playing sports. And of course, she wants to participate because she is a kid and because it is FUN. But politicians in her home state want to exclude her and to permanently ban her from participating.

That is why on January 13, 2026, Lambda Legal is taking Becky’s case, B.P.J. v. West Virginia State Board of Education, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. We believe kids should be able to play, regardless of whether they are trans. 

There are many different legal arguments that anchor our case. But I want to close by emphasizing the following points, especially to help dispel the misinformation often spewed by anti-trans politicians and so-called “I’ve done my own research” experts:

• Trans girls actually make up a tiny proportion of athletes in women’s sports. Trans youth make up only 1.4% of all 13 to 17-year-olds, and half of those (0.7%) are trans girls. Few of them play sports. Therefore, it is statistically impossible (and irresponsible and ridiculous) to argue that trans girls will upend women’s sports.

• The facts show that participation among high school girls has remained the same or increased in states where there are inclusive policies allowing trans students to participate in accordance with their gender identity. In contrast, participation among girls has decreased in states that have harmful bans. 

• Research studies that are cited to support bans never involve transgender athletes. They compare cisgender women and cisgender men. 

The most important policy argument, however, is that athletics provides countless endless benefits to those who wish to participate. (Like myself!) Depriving kids like Becky the opportunity to play will likely result in long-term negative impacts. We can’t let that happen, and we won’t.

Learn more about B.P.J. v. West Virginia by reading our case page.